Of Trees and Carriages
by Bakubear
Summary: In which Zuko's carriage is penetrated by Jet. In the future. Seriously.


**AN:** So, another likely to never be continued drabble! Ah, well. I liked how it turned out, so here it is! I wrote this about.. two months ago? Somewhere around then. I finally got the urge to post it just now. xD; Why do I love to torture both Zuko and Jet?

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I do not own avatar:

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Jet smirked, as he lied back in the tree branch. Supposedly -within the day, he had gathered- there was going to be a convoy coming through the path he was over currently. 

A Fire Nation convoy, traveling through the Earth Kingdom towards Ba Sing Se, so its main occupant could discuss important topics with the Earth King. Not just any Fire Nation convoy, however… Rumour had it that the current Fire Lord would be in it. What better way to harm the Fire Nation than to destroy its leader?

Oh, sure, it was said that this Fire Lord had ended the hundred-year war… That he - with the help of the Avatar- had helped bring general peace to the world. Jet had heard that he was the best Fire Lord there had been for the past century. Which, in all honesty, wasn't that much of an accomplishment, seeing as most of the had been power-hungry bastards bent on bringing nothing but war and suffering?

Though, in Jet's opinion, that's what they all were. No one from the Fire Nation could be trusted. The last time he'd tried to befriend one of them, he'd ended up being the puppet of a crazed dictator, and had barely escaped with his life.

.. Smellerbee and Longshot hadn't been as lucky. They'd gotten him out of there, and they were the sole reason he was still alive. But they'd been captured by the Dai Li, and had been immediately executed on the spot. Jet had vowed to revenge them, to kill the Dai Li. But just as he was healed anywhere close to being able to do so, there had been a rebellion as news of the war and thetraitorous ways of Long Feng had leaked to the citizens of Ba Sing Se.

The stories went that the palace had been stormed, the vast majority of the Dai Li killed and the Earth King had rightfully took control of his kingdom. Jet had fled the city, not wanting to be caught up in the political squabbles that were sure to follow such a massive usurping. Jet had never really liked politics… they took too long and it didn't make sense to argue with a bunch of idiots over some topic when you could just go in there and correct it yourself.

It had taken him a while for him to become completely healed. Though, you wouldn't really call it completely healed. He'd lost a lot of movement in his right arm, and was most likely going to have a limp for the rest of his life. Of course, a few mobility problems now and then had never stopped Jet. He had adapted to his permanent injuries, and had become just as efficient in using his blades and just as agile in climbing as he was before anything involving Lake Laogai had ever happened.

The war had soon officially ended, and the current Fire Lord had assumed his position as ruler.

Of course, Jet's personal war with the Fire Nation would never be over. So, thus, Jet continued on his Freedom Fighter career. Though he wasn't the leader of anything now. He hadn't been able to find any of the previous Freedom Fighters. After escaping Ba Sing Se, he had returned to the forest that he had called his home for what seemed a lifetime. The camp had been in a state of disrepair, and there had been scorch marks all over the area.

However, there had been no bodies. That had given him some hope for a while, and he had searched for years… Only to find nothing. It seemed as if they were either dead, or hiding extremely well. Jet preferred to think them dead, so he wouldn't think himself as having given up on them. He believed it most of the time, too.

So here he was, doing what he was most likely going to do for the rest of his predicted-to-be short life. Of course, he now had more to fight for… not just his parents had been killed by the Fire Nation, but his entire life had been. The people who he had considered his new family...

Suddenly, he heard the sound of hooves on ground. Jet quickly jumped alert, and stood on the branch. Over the horizon, he could see a large group of soldiers on Komodo Rhinos. The beat of hooves came from a group of four Stallion Birds that pulled a large and ornamental carriage.

Even if it was not for the traditional Fire Nation mounts, Jet could have easily identified the carriage as one belonging to the Fire Nation. It was covered in fiery colours of red and gold, with a large amount of black.

The convoy trekked the path at a decent speed, and Jet remained shielded from them in the leaves of the branch. Just as the carriage came below his hiding place, Jet jumped down, landing cleanly on the top. It wasn't the thickest wood, and so it could be easily penetrated by his Hu-Tou-Gou.

He paused a bit, making sure he hadn't been heard or seen jumping down. He was lucky that the carriage top was high enough so that the soldiers on the mounts couldn't easily see it. It really was a bad design, but one that he could use to his benefit.

Unsheathing his Hu-Tou-Gou, he cut a body-sized hole quickly, and dropped down into the carriage, his weapons barred. The Fire Lord had stood up, and just as Jet had suspected, he was the only one in the carriage. Jet let out a quiet snarl, and leapt forward, locking his blades around the Fire Lord's neck.

He looked up, intending to revel in the fear that was sure to be played across the Fire  
Lord's features…

And saw a familiar scar, and piercing golden eyes. The vague visage that had been in many of his dreams about the short time he'd spent in Ba Sing Se… He'd been obsessed, he had realised later. But he'd enjoyed it. The many nights spend laying on a rooftop observing the sure-to-be Firebenders. It was like the thrill of a hunt, seeing if he could catch just enough details to prove to himself and others that he was correct, that the two 'refugees' were Firebenders.

Of course, he hadn't proven their guilt. He ended up never seeing him after their duel near the tea shop. Until now, that was.

Jet stared in the eyes of a bit of his past. Eyes that were staring back into his with a look of confusion across them.

There was a moment when they both didn't move, and didn't speak. However, Jet soon broke the silence.

"..Li?" Jet spoke quickly, shock evident in his voice. The golden eyes were still inspecting him, trying to recall where he knew him from...

Then they widened, and seemed to recognize some of the features that Jet had still kept even as he aged slightly. Of course, he also had a twig in his mouth, out of habit.

Jet withdrew his Hu-Tou-Gou from Li's neck, and held them defensively at his sides. He backed up a step or two, and ended up somewhat tripping onto the bench-like seat that was on the opposite side of the carriage.

Meanwhile, Zuko - having recognised the Freedom Fighter was resisting the urge to repeatedly bash his head on the wall of the carriage. Today just really wasn't his day.

'Though, really, neither is any other day,' an annoying voice in his head sighed. For once, Zuko agreed.


End file.
